Marchers in Plainfield parade honor soldiers' sacrifice

An otherwise rainy Sunday cleared up just long enough for veterans, Scouts and public safety officers to march through Moosup in the town’s annual Memorial Day parade.

ALISON SHEA

An otherwise rainy Sunday cleared up just long enough for veterans, Scouts and public safety officers to march through Moosup in the town’s annual Memorial Day parade.

Small crowds gathered along the route from North Main Street to Prospect Street, and organizers said more were probably deterred by the rain.

Marchers included veterans groups, First Selectman Paul Sweet, state Rep. Mae Flexer, D-Killingly, fire and police department members and Scouts.

The host of the parade this year was the American Legion Post 91 in Moosup, whose Prospect Street building marked the end of the parade route. The parade rotates on a three-year cycle through the town’s three veterans groups, with the AMVETS in Wauregan and Veterans of Foreign Wars in Plainfield village hosting in their respective villages in other years.

All three groups decorated cemeteries and participated in ceremonies throughout town earlier on Sunday

Legion Post Commander Wayne Durrigan said he thought the parade went well, even if they didn’t see the crowds they hoped for.

Among the small crowd was the family of Devan White, an 8-year-old Plainfield boy marching with the Boy Scouts. Devan’s dad, Allen White, pointed out Devan’s aunt and cousins, from Preston, and grandparents, from Norwich. Devan’s grandfather, Allen White Sr., a Navy veteran, said seeing his grandson march was a great way to start a very busy two days of veterans celebrations that the family will watch and participate in.

“We’ve got to remember what this day is about. It’s not just a party. It’s a day to celebrate veterans and those who have died,” he said.

The family was among those who watched a solemn ceremony at the end of the parade route in which American Legion Junior Vice Commander Wayne Kowal laid a wreath on the town’s Vietnam War memorial.

Kowal told the crowd that Memorial Day offers an opportunity to “recalibrate your personal compass to remember the meaning of this day,” he said.

The meaning, American Legion chaplain Conrad Langlais told the crowd in leading a prayer, is fallen soldiers’ sacrifices.

“We can honor them by cherishing the ideals for which they fought,” he said.